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On November 6, cleaning workers and their allies in Minneapolis will lead a March for Justice in Retail Cleaning, with stops at Target, SuperValu and Lunds & Byerly’s, calling on those companies to agree to a code of conduct guaranteeing fair wages and working conditions for the workers who clean their stores.

Wages and working conditions in retail cleaning have plummeted over the last 10 years as retail giants like Target and SuperValu have subcontracted cleaning out to other companies, a process that pits dozens of cleaning companies against each other, each underbidding the other in the mad scramble to win contracts.

“We are tired of the violations of human rights in our workplaces as we suffer the results of this process,” said Mario Colloly, a retail cleaning worker at Cub Foods (a SuperValu chain). “Workers will no longer watch the profits of these corporate giants soar as our wages and working conditions spiral downward.”

In April, retail cleaning workers with the Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha sent a letter to Target, SuperValu and Lunds & Byerly’s informing them of the serious violations of human rights taking place in retail cleaning. In that letter and in other communications, workers and allies requested a meeting with the companies to discuss ways to end these abuses.

While Jerry’s Foods, a major franchise owner of Cub Foods, responded with a willingness to open a dialogue on fair standards, Target, SuperValu and Lunds & Byerly’s have continued to turn a blind eye to the injustices taking place in their stores by refusing to meet with workers.

“It’s time for these companies to live up to their standards of corporate responsibility by partnering with the Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha to establish a code of conduct guaranteeing fair wages and working conditions for the workers who clean their stores,” said Colloly.

“No corporation can escape its responsibility to workers by simply outsourcing their work to some other company that doesn’t observe the rights of those workers,” said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) at a recent press conference about the issue.

“We sincerely hope that the companies will live up to their reputations as socially responsible corporations,” said Rep. Ellison. But if they disappoint us…it will be time for all of us to step forward.”